QWERTY Keyboard

The portable gaming market is looking like it will get a bit more interesting in 2011, as Panasonic seems intent on launching their own portable console. After being unveiled last month, there were some who believed that it would be a pipe-dream, and never make it out of the gate. But Panasonic doesn't see it that way, and they've moved onto the testing stage for the device, focusing on consumers in the United States.

Details on the Ocosmos OSC1 UMPC which Intel briefly flashed at IDF 2010 earlier this year have emerged, set to be one of the first Oak Trail devices assuming the company can find carriers willing to take it on. According to the spec sheet, the OSC1 will have either a 1.5GHz or 1.9GHz Oak Trail CPU running Windows 7, 400MHz GPU with HD decoding, WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, and a 5-inch capacitive touchscreen running at 1024 x 768.

Nokia has outed a new, very basic QWERTY phone for message-addicted users. The Nokia X2-01 runs S40 and has a 2.4-inch QVGA display, quadband GSM/EDGE and a VGA resolution camera; there's also Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and a 3.5mm headphone socket.

The unannounced HTC Merge has made a brief appearance on Verizon's site, with the QWERTY Android phone showing up in a 360-degree viewer before being pulled down. Spotted by Android Central, full hardware details for the Merge are unknown beyond what we can make out from the photos.

We spotted Verizon's new E Ink feature-phone, the Samsung Zeal, getting a premature preview earlier today, but the carrier has now come clean on the dual-hinge handset. Like the Alias 2 before it, the Samsung Zeal has a full QWERTY keyboard which uses E Ink keys; that allows the layout to change according to what app is running and which way around the handset is being held.

Looks like the rumors about the Samsung Zeal were true; the dual-hinge messaging handset has seemingly been prematurely tipped by a third-party news service used by Verizon. The press release itself has been pulled, and there's no mention of the Zeal on Verizon's own press pages at the moment, but we did come across a 360-degree viewer which shows the front of the handset.

Nokia has confirmed that the Nokia E7 will begin shipping on December 10, though the company's Twitter account says that not all countries will get the 4-inch Symbian^3 smartphone on that date. The E7 was announced back at Nokia World 2010 and tipped for a Q4 2010 launch; it has a full QWERTY keyboard and similar styling to the N8.

Update: Nokia has made a mistake, it seems, and now says the E7 is on track to ship in December 2010 rather than on December 10th.

Pre-orders for the Motorola DROID PRO will kick off on Tuesday November 9, Verizon has confirmed, with the QWERTY-blessed Android 2.2 Froyo smartphone headed to retail stores on November 18. As expected, the DROID PRO will be priced at $179.99 following a mail-in rebate and subject to a new, two-year agreement.

Sharp's GALAPAGOS range isn't just about big ereader tablets; the company has just unveiled two new Softbank Android smartphones, the GALAPAGOS 003SH and 005SH, which each offer glasses-free 3D on their 3.8-inch WVGA touchscreen displays. The 003SH has a 9.6-megapixel camera, while the 005SH has an 8-megapixel camera but makes up for the shortfall with a slide-out four row QWERTY keyboard.

Sprint has confirmed that the HTC 7 Pro QWERTY-blessed Windows Phone 7 smartphone will go up for pre-order on November 8. However, according to BGR the phone will only be available to Microsoft employees at that point, rather than general sales; Sprint would not say when the 7 Pro would be available for order on a broader basis.